Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Garden Club - August


Tonight we toured a nearby commercial water garden landscape place. I am only able to recognize a few of the water plants, like the lettuce, the hyacinth, and the canna and know none of the cultivar names, but it was sure fun seeing some of the gorgeous lilies and also, the many colorful koi--including one large pregnant fish that looked like she was ready to launch at least a thousand eggs. The koi will eat the tasty little eggs, but the tiny eggs are captured on the roots of water plants and then moved to another tank to hatch. I could not get a good photo of the wide-bellied momma koi swimming at the bottom of a dark tank, but I have a few selected photos from our tour.

A night  blooming lily--the others close up for the night

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Walk in the Park


Yesterday I was in the vicinity of Millenium Park, a recent reclamation project that has been developed into the largest park of its kind in West Michigan, so I thought I'd check it out. It had rained earlier, but was brightening and warm. I was surprised to find only a few souls out enjoying the park. There were two hikers on the trails but I did not cross paths with them. I felt like I had the whole beautiful space to myself! How fortunate we are here in Michigan to have such a nice plot of reclaimed wetlands available, abundant with native plants and birds. I was reminded of my lack of knowledge about wildflowers. I did recognize some of the plantings in the area of the shelters and playground, like this perovskia, or Russian sage, which was attracting bees:


With the many grasses pluming and the vegetation summer-rain lush, it was a good time to visit, although I can imagine that it will be transformed in a few months as we fall into autumn.

Click on these photos to enlarge--and enjoy some of nature's finest:

Leaves trending fall--viburnum?
Glistening berries
Young dawn redwood

One more--I was impressed with the mowed  grass--look how thick and green it is--easily able to stand up to foot traffic:

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Today in the Church Garden

The two large pots are lush
Over-wintered mandevilla are thriving
The heart-shaped garden is filling in.
Two cultivars of zinnias, marigolds, lantana, salvia